Monday, June 30, 2008

Today was the first day back with several of the reps and new wine. For the complete update on my trip to oregon I will post here the article I do for the Tastebud magazine. Just what I didnt need was another Pinot Grigio from Italy but craig brought in the 2006 Borgo M with beautiful acidity, a picquant touch of grapefruit.

2007 Triebaumer Blaufrankish Rose soft and lush and nice enough acidity to match with most foods. Not as sweet as last year but thats alright.

2006 Solitude Cote du Rhone..dark color in the glass but I think a little green on the palate from youth...or too much grenache.

2004 Elderton Friends Cabernet Sauvignon Barossa Australia nose of a syrah or Iodinie...lots of black fruit, a small bite on the end but not too annoying. around $18

Monday, June 23, 2008

I think it is interesting that the wine that made the biggest impression on me at pinot camp was not pinot noir but pinot blanc,a white mutation of pinot noir.. from bethel heights a beautiful, rounded aromatic but not sweet wine knocked my socks off last night at the pre tasting event at domaine serene which was beautiful too, and luckily today at Oregon cool whites we tasted it again blind and luckily I was able to pick it out from a flight of 6 .

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Interestingly enough the most exciting part of my day so far has been about aviation. We had breakfast in the museum that houses the Spruce Goose of Howard Hughes fame....its huge... and gray. located in the city of McMinnville where I am staying.

Our first seminar was a basic history of Oregon winemaking and what makes Oregon special for Pinot Noir.

Second Seminar was a vintage tasting with 5 wineries in particular...at least what theylook for in wine..fruit..is it bright or jammy tannin...light or heavy..acidity..tart or not and balance... then we tasted through wines of vintage annd looked at forward vs ageable..acidity or lush...the wineries represented at the panel were Raptor Ridge, Eyrie, Archery Summit, Panther Creek and Elk Cove. All represented in missouri except for Raptor.

The afternoon seminar was a walking and tasting seminar at Domaine Drouhin Oregon on the Dundee Hills...they had carved out a 6 foot crater to show the depth of soil and where it came from.

They also explained sustainablity practices of cover crops, canopy maintenance and soil maintenance.

The wines tried here were from Drouhin, Erath and Lange..All which are represented in Missouri.

So far the information has been general and not to specific. I think I can tell I am getting older by the crowd of people (none of whom I know) I seem to gravitate toward. There are several 20 somethings who I envy in a way because I would have loved to have their passion when I was that age, but a lot of them are just asking questions that they know the answer of or making statements so they can appear to be smart or intelligent. My mother always said be silent and thought a fool instead of speaking and removing all doubt.

Dinner tonite at DOmaine Serene, one of the more pricey wineries. 25 wineries will be represented tonight

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Tasted through the lineup of Bogle wines today with the rep from bogle and the distributor rep. these wines have always been consistent and great value wines, maybe nothing exceptional but nothing awful either...Bogle Sauv Blanc 06 a pink grapefruit style...trying to be new zealand...another example of the mondovino effect...sweet.

Bogle chardonnay sweet and a touch oaky..wall street journal always rates this as a top wine for the value and cost

several wines yesterday...most had been tasted before in different vintages.

Craig Rohner of Pinnacle had a few interesting winesTwin Vines Vinho Verde 2007 I like this wine because it does vintage date..usually vinho verde is a blend of recent vintages. light easy sipping wine this has a tang flavor, oranges and astronauts love it

1221 2006 December 21 was the birthday of the founder and that is why the upper end wines have that as their moniker. viognier and chard with the nose being all viognier...a touch sweet and almost interesting

B.O zin 2004 brickish color and some briar on the nose...a little juicy but quick finish.

Monday, June 2, 2008

Elyse Rose 2007 a light salmon color..mostly Pinot Noir but also other rhone style varietals... good light fruit flavors and a quick finish..be bold, set a trend, drink the pink.....

Figge 2005 Pinot Noir from Santa Lucia Highlands... a KC native the name is like the pudding...and I actually got some dried fig nose...dark candied fruit, nice finish... a friend of ridge watson of Joullian.

Bernie brought by two wines from Larkmead

Larkmead Firebelle 2005 a bordeaux blend, right bank with more merlot... I was surprised how chunky it tasted but I may still be suffering from the pineapple wines..dark brooding color in the glass...i think it just needs time to settle own..

Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 pretty smoke, leather on the nose...full bodied with nice long flavors of dark cherry and tobacco.

After a nice day o ff going to Arrow rock I had four wine reps come in today with wine to try..here is a breakdown of those...nothing to exciting.

Craig from Pinnacle 2006 Batterieberg Detonation Riesling halbtrocken...so half dry not as sweet but pretty uninteresting..non offensive just no zip

2006 Au Bon Climat Pinot Gris/Pinot BlancPinot Blanc gives it a little more mouthfeel...like almonds and oranges on the palate... nice viscousity... good wine for food

2006 Pisoni Chardonnay moderate creamy notes...malolactic and a little pineapple which will be a recurring theme in todays tasting.Mas de la Dame Cuvee Gournande 2005 gourmande is someone who eats a lot??? so this wine is made for food?? tried this in the past few months and definitely liked it better the second time around..coffee from the syrah and red berries from the grenache.. in the store.

Elderton Cabernet 2007 Australia 93pts from parker so you know its going to have a lot going on in terms of big bold flavors...but at the same time I was impressed with its finesse finish.

Starlite Vineyards Zinfandel. 2005 didnt try it because its made with the cooperation of Merry Edwards who sells all here own label to restaurants only...she can do the same with this one.